lt is one of the most haunting photos in the Edmonton Journal archives: a picture of Thomas Svekla, dressed in a green camouflage jacket and tinted round sunglasses, smiling tauntingly at the camera, his finger held to his lips. “Shhhh,” he seems to be saying. “I’ve got a secret.”

Vasalos underwent gastric sleeve surgery seven months ago. In that time, she has lost 80 pounds and said emphatically: It is the “best thing I have ever done for myself.”

Vasalos has struggled with weight and body image most of her life.

Growing up in a big Greek family, she never felt different or that her weight mattered, but peer pressure at school told her otherwise.

“I always remember being bigger than the other kids my age,” she told me. “And it was worse in high school.

“I did all these crazy diets, even living on just an orange for lunch, and I was really fine in those days.”

When she was 21, she went to Greece on vacation and met her future husband.

A couple of years after they were married, she gained 55 pounds with her first pregnancy and then more weight two years later with her second child.

“I just kept gaining after that,” she said.

Food was — and still is — a big part of her Greek heritage. “We were always celebrating something, there was always food around, one feast after another, and I would just eat and eat.”

Vasalos tells a story of her grandmother feeding her sister soup, and more soup until she threw up. “My grandmother turns around says, ‘Oh, she has nothing in her stomach,’ and gives her more soup,” she said with a laugh. “That’s just the way it was.”

Two years ago, though, Vasalos realized that she had to do something.

“I had tried all the diets out there, nothing worked. I knew for me, it would have to be drastic.”

With her weight at an all-time high, she was given a referral to a gastric surgeon. They discussed the three possibilities: bypass, sleeve and banding.

“We went over all three options and decided I was the perfect candidate for the sleeve procedure, and I went for it.”

The decision is a big one, no two cases are the same, and the consequences and long-term effects can vary.

The gastric sleeve is where 85 per cent of the stomach is removed, leaving only 15 per cent. After the procedure, patients simply cannot eat as much as they used to.

Vasalos can consume half a cup of food at a sitting.

However, as she pointed out, a stomach “can stretch with time — I’ll always have to be careful.”

Lucky for her, Vasalos has been a model patient since having the surgery in March.

“Everything went perfectly, and I feel absolutely awesome,” she says.

Even possible long-term complications like ulcers and gallstones don’t faze her. “Listen, I signed up for this. If something happens, I’ll deal with it.”

It’s a whole new world for the 47-year-old.

“My head has to catch up with my body now,” she said. “I’ll walk by a window and can’t recognize the face staring back. It’s unreal, I still see the fat girl, it’s really weird.”

What isn’t weird is the energy she said she now has.

Working at a busy downtown hair salon and standing most of the day was taking its toll.

“My knees hurt, I couldn’t walk very far, I was a mess.” Now she says she parks her car as far away as she can, because she likes to walk. “It feels so great to move, I run up and down stairs now, no problem.”

And it’s the things that most people take for granted that really strike her.

“Sitting on a sofa and being able to pull my leg up to my chest, or even crossing my legs, comfortably, is a whole new feeling for me.”

Vasalos has no regrets with the decision to have the surgery. Even if it means she can no longer drink carbonated beverages or eat popcorn ever again.

“It’s a small price to pay for getting my health back.”

One thing she has to constantly remind herself to do is eat. “I forget to eat,” she said. “I am never hungry, and that has never happened to me.”

And let’s not forget about the price tag. The surgery, if you go to a private clinic, as Vasalos did, is in the vicinity of $18,000. The waiting list for the surgery in the health-care system is long, in some cases running up to five years.

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.